An abstract painting need in 50 years by no means look "abstract" any longer.
Marcel DuchampRead
Tradition is the great misleader because it's too easy to follow what has already been done - even though you may think you're giving it a kick. I was really trying to invent, instead of merely expressing myself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the reliance on tradition in creativity, emphasizing the importance of true invention over mere imitation.
Marcel Duchamp suggests that tradition can often mislead artists and individuals into following established paths that stifle genuine innovation. He believes that while one might think they are adding their own flair to traditional practices, it is essential to strive for authentic invention, where new ideas and expressions emerge from original thought rather than simply reinterpreting what has come before.
Themes
TraditionInnovationCreativityArtSelf-Expression
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on modern art, this quote can be used to illustrate the tension between tradition and innovation.
More from Marcel Duchamp
All quotes →All this twaddle, the existence of God, atheism, determinism, liberation, societies, death, etc., are pieces of a chess game called language, and they are amusing only if one does not preoccupy oneself with 'winning or losing this game of chess.
Marcel DuchampRead
I am still a victim of chess. It has all the beauty of art - and much more. It cannot be commercialized. Chess is much purer than art in its social position.
Marcel DuchampRead
I never finished the 'Large Glass' because, after working on it for eight years, I probably got interested in something else; also, I was tired. It may be that, subconsciously, I never intended to finish it because the word 'finish' implies an acceptance of traditional methods and all the paraphernalia that accompany them.
Marcel DuchampRead
It's a product of two poles - there's the pole of the one who makes the work, and the pole of the one who looks at it. I give the latter as much importance as the one who makes it.
Marcel DuchampRead
I became a librarian at the Sainte-Genevieve Library in Paris. I made this gesture to rid myself of a certain milieu, a certain attitude, to have a clean conscience, but also to make a living. I was twenty-five. I had been told that one must make a living, and I believed it.
Marcel DuchampRead
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